This invention relates to display racks. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved display rack for use in combination with a walk-in type cooler.
The above identified patent application, of which this is a continuation-in-part, is directed to a cooler display rack system which has a shelving design that offers unobstructed continuous display of cooler merchandise due to the elimination of the display rack front posts. The elimination of front posts avoids the need for the shelf width to match the walk-in cooler door width. The cooler display rack system allows the retailer the opportunity of a more individualized allocation of products based on sales merchandising schemes.
This cooler display rack system provides individually adjustable shelves which can be moved forward or back relative to the cooler door without the need for repositioning of the entire display rack. Furthermore, the shelves can be individually adjusted vertically to accommodate varying heights of merchandise, and the shelves can be positioned variably between a 1.degree. back slope inclination up to an 8.degree. forward slope inclination relative to a horizontal plane for a gravity feed system as required. The display rack system includes a plurality of generally L-shaped frame sections having upright posts between which a number of shelves extend forward in a cantilevered manner. Supporting the shelves in a cantilevered fashion allows the posts to be positioned at the rear edge of each shelf thereby allowing full access through the cooler doors to the merchandise located on the shelves facing the cooler doors.
Even though the shelves of the cooler display rack system are adjustable vertically, horizontally and angularly as described, the manner of arranging the merchandise on the individual shelves is not addressed in the above-identified patent application. Gravity feed type display systems often include dividers for partitioning the merchandise into columns. However, the spacing between the dividers, and therefore the width of the merchandise which can be placed therein, is often set or fixed by the shelf manufacturer. If the dividers are fixed, the shelf space is inefficiently used and the store manager has little or no flexibility in arranging merchandise or designing a gravity feed display. Even if the dividers are adjustable, they typically require complicated attachment mechanisms and are difficult to remove and reattach to the shelf when re-configuring the merchandise display.